Local Revitalization: Support from Local Residents

Abstract

When featured destinations are used to revitalize cities, organizers must learn about the support of local residents. Therefore, the study used the Taiping Suspension Bridge in Meishan Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan as an example to explore the positive and negative impacts of tourism (i.e., its positive impact on the economy and negative impact on the environment) on resident support for the featured destination. The study used a structured questionnaire to collect local residents’ perceptions toward the aforementioned impacts and support attitude toward tourism. A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed to the local residents with a valid return rate of 88.2%. The relationships among aforementioned variables were tested using structural equation modeling. The results revealed that the negative sociocultural and environmental impact of tourism negatively affected resident support for featured destinations. However, the positive economic impact of tourism weakened the perceived negative sociocultural and environmental impact of tourism and enhanced resident support for featured destinations. Therefore, in developing featured destinations, the positive economic impact of tourism is a crucial influencing factor in obtaining resident support. These results may serve as a reference to agencies intending to increase local revitalization through tourism development.